Overwhelmed Week: How to get the most out of your time

How can you avoid being overwhelmed by today's busy world? Balancing family, work and life, that's what Sally needed to do.

Author:
Chris Sadeghi

Published:
6:29 AM EDT November 4, 2016

Updated:
6:29 AM EDT November 4, 2016

Between being a mother of three and playing an active role in her church, Sally Michael also kept busy at work. As a stylist for J. Hilburn, she was constantly helping outfit clients and booming business kept her on the run.

Still, something did not feel right.

“It just seemed very overwhelming,” said Michael. “I was jumping from one thing to the next and I never felt I was doing anything well.”

The busy schedule left her unfulfilled and she actually considered giving up her business for a more simplistic lifestyle and a farmhouse she always wanted.

Then she met Robin Pou.

Pou is an executive coach often hired by businesses to help them manage priorities and expectations. He tries to provide a change in perspective and thinking to people like Michael who felt “stuck.”

“When they talk about being overwhelmed, my antennae goes up as a coach,” said Pou.

According to Pou, there are three lies overwhelmed people tell themselves: I can do it all, I have to do it all, I am going to miss out if I do not do it.

Focusing on what you want rather than what you do not want is advice Pou stresses to his clients along with emphasizing thoughts lead to actions, and those actions lead to the results they desire. He points out getting out from underneath the overwhelmed feeling is more about priority management than time management.

“When you are doing everything, everything is a priority, so that makes nothing a priority.”

Michael says Pou’s coaching made in impact on her and, more specifically, her way of thinking.

“I started making choices for me and my family instead of letting my life run me.”

With that change in attitude and thinking, Michael has given up some things such as tennis, but she managed to keep her business and recently moved into the farm house she wanted.

She says although she still has the same amount of hours in the day, managing priorities and focusing on what she truly wanted to accomplish helped her achieve it.